Fire Burning
by unless it raines
Summary: This is my first fic and was mostly written in an attempt to get someone else to post something. It is a rewrite of a scene from "Reprise" with more Jo/Zane interaction than the original. Rated T for safety because I really don't want my first story to be deleted.


A/N: I haven't figured out how to do an author's note yet, so if someone could help me out with that I'd be very grateful. I just wanted to warn you that this story kind of twists the order of a couple episodes to make everything fit, but I'm assuming that anyone who watches Eureka has already seen all of the episodes anyway. Reviews, including flames, are appreciated! I only wrote this because I got upset that people don't post on the Eureka fandom as often as I'd like. I thought _That looks easy! I can do that!_ Turns out, I was wrong. At this point, I'm just hoping this pushes someone a little more talented to write something for my desperate soul. Thanks!

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Jo spoke into her PDA. "And tell Carter I've got everything…under…control." She winced and sighed on the last three words as she saw flames shoot out of her demolished home. She pulled her gun out of its holster and treaded silently up to what had once been her front door. The state of the inside of the house shocked her. Jo's piano, which she had treasured, was burnt, the keys singed badly. All the interior walls had turned to ash. There were various piles of unidentifiable bunt remains everywhere, and towards the back of the house, where her plush queen bed should have stood, were a singed headboard and a dilapidated footboard with only smoke and flames in between. Jo then saw another column of flame shoot out from the other side of the bed. Her hand once again on her gun, she moved carefully around the bed to where she assumed the flames had originated from. The sight that met her eyes surprised her more than anything she had seen thus far.

"Zane?" she croaked. He was standing, tall and invincible, moving towards her through the seemingly endless smoke, flames dancing all around him. When she looked into his eyes, she expected angry cobalt or even the stark indifference she had come to know with this new timeline Zane, but she found neither. Instead, she saw a look of helplessness, irises bright and stormy like a midnight sea. It looked as if he was drowning in himself.

"Zane?" she whispered, embarrassed at how her voice shook.

"Help me," he pleaded in a desperate voice that Jo had never heard in either timeline. He gestured with the flame thrower he was holding towards the ground in between the two of them. Lying there was a picture.

The photo was from the P.A.L.S. incident. Jo had printed it from one of the security feeds when she was reviewing the footage for the incident report before she had wiped it for the yearly shut down. It was of her and Zane right after he had pulled her from her imminent death. He had still been lying on top of her, breathless. It was the first time she had really believed that they could be together in this timeline the same way they were in the last one.

Jo was pulled out of her reminiscing by another strangled cry of "help!" from Zane.

"What?" Jo asked, panicked.

"Stop me!" Jo finally understood what he was yelling about. Something was obviously forcing Zane to burn Jo's house, and he was trying to save this last piece of Jo's happiness. She was suddenly struck by this gesture but was then jolted out of her reverie by the realization that he was losing this battle.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked frantically, "You're the smart one!".

"What?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Oh, please," she replied, "You could never let me forget how much smarter you were."

"I…what?" he asked, dumbfounded. "How could I have ever let you think that? STUPID!" While he reprimanded himself, his subconscious began taking over his physical body. His arms, seemingly of their own accord, shifted the flame thrower so it was aimed at the photo that still lay between them. Before he could shoot the flames out, Jo leaped forward to grab the photo, hoping he wouldn't just burn her with it. This snapped him out of his self-scolding immediately.

"Careful!" he yelled.

"I can't lose this too. Not after everything else. I just can't." With that, Jo crumpled to the floor, cradling the picture like a newborn baby. "It's pathetic. I know," she said with a watery chuckle.

"No…no," he comforted while dropping down to kneel beside her. Even as he held her, one hand was still on the flame thrower. Jo looked up with a startled expression as she felt his free had wrap around her. On impulse, she turned into him and pressed her lips to his. He kissed back immediately, first passionately, then slowing to caring and savoring every moment. He wrapped both hands around her to prevent her from escaping, effectively releasing the flame thrower. While she had both his consciousness and his subconscious distracted, Jo reached out and slowly slid the flame thrower away from Zane. He broke the kiss, his subconscious momentarily winning his attention.

"Which would you rather have?" Jo asked with a sly smile. "It or me?" With his purpose in acting out the song fulfilled*, his subconscious finally released him to do what he really wanted.

He reached out to Jo, pulling her up to straddle his lap. "You," he breathed over and over in between pressing delicate kisses on her eyelids and the corners of her mouth before finally kissing her right on her lips.

He pulled back for a moment to stare into her eyes. Jo, misjudging his reason for pulling away, suddenly felt fearful. Her eyes went wide for a completely different reason when he revealed what he had just pulled out of his pocket. The engagement ring sparkled in the light of the dying flames around them. Zane had taken to carrying it around with him everywhere he went ever since that confusing day when Jo had thrown it at him. Jo's eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she gazed at the ring that was the last memento from a better time.

"You," he repeated one last time. "Always." A single tear slipped down Jo's cheek as she managed a small smile. "Keep it for me, will you?" he asked, "I never would have given it to anyone unless I couldn't imagine life without them. I'm starting to understand what that feels like. Jo keep it for me, around your neck, until I can put it on your finger right where it belongs." Jo nodded tearfully, so Zane took her hand and tucked the ring into her palm, closing her fingers over it. "I think I'm falling in love with you. I never imagined this would happen to me," he admitted. Jo's smile at that remark was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he had ever witnessed.

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A couple hours later when Jo started to drift off in Zane's arms, he whispered, "Come home with me," quietly in her ear. His warm breath caused a shiver to run down her spine. All the same, she stiffened when she realized what he was asking.

"I don't know if that idea is wise," she said carefully.

"I destroyed your house. It's the least I can do. I won't force you into anything. Promise." His cyan eyes twinkled with mischief at his last comment. Her eyes fell flat in return, and his expression sobered immediately in response. "I'm sorry. Really."

"It wasn't your fault," she replied automatically.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." He tilted her chin up to meet her eyes. With his lips a hair's breadth from hers, her whispered, "Come home with me, Jojo." The smile she expected never came. Instead, he remained serious.

She began to argue, "It's complicated, Zane," but gave up when she saw the desperate look in his eyes, like a puppy just waiting to be kicked. She finally sighed and allowed herself to melt into his arms. She could feel him smile against her lips.

"This is home," she finally confessed.

"Always," he replied. And this time Jo thought he might really be right.

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A/N:

*they mentioned during the episode "Glimpse" that the songs were just providing people with ways to get the things they wanted. In Zane's case, the song provided him with a way to get Jo's attention like he had been trying to for a while. I was working off the assumption that, once the purpose of the song was fulfilled, the person acting it out would go back to normal. Just a thought I had.

So anyway, please post new stuff! You really don't want to see anymore of my writing! Anyway, please review with suggestions to make this better.


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